Inledning

Is it really true that cruise ships dump waste water including sewage into the Baltic sea?

Dear förnamn,

After learning that it is common practice for cruise ships to empty their septic tanks into the Baltic sea I am shocked.

Argument

Cruise ships in the Baltic produce hundreds of millions liters of sewage annually and the majority seems to be intentionally, not accidentially, flushed into the sea. This cannot be compatible with any sustainability practices as there are better options available.

There are free services for handling septic waste in many Baltic ports: Stockholm, Tallinn, and Helsinki to mention a few. Cruise lines should plan routes to take advantage of these facilities instead of dumping excrements and waste in open water.

If your company is to make a profit from cruises on our beloved Baltic sea, you should act responsibly and take care of your waste like you do with any other trash.

In Sweden it is now illegal even for tiny leisure craft to dump sewage into the sea. This law may not apply to your company, but it gives an idea of how we look at this practice.

The Baltic sea is a bad state already and the sewage dumped from large cruise ships damages the fragile ecosystem even further. Sewage is a contributing factor to blooming algae.

Cruise ships that dump sewage in the Baltic should not be welcome as the environmental impact is too big to accept in this sensitive environment.

Avslutning

Can you assure me that your company's ships will always use the free sewage treating services in ports to keep the Baltic clean?

Does your company’s ships dump sewage into the Baltic sea? If you do, how do you motivate this?

I will not go on a cruise anywhere before I find an environmentally responsible cruise line that commits to stop dumping sewage in the Baltic.